Luddite technologist rant

I am feeling very grumpy about technology today and I felt I needed to do something so I deactivated a Facebook account I'd created some months back. Nothing personal about Facebook, as a technology it's been fine and if I'm ever reincarnated as a 19 year old female, alcoholic, exhibitionist, college student I'll reconsider joining. But like I said, I'm grumpy. I never check the site or contribute to it. At least once a week I received invites from people (many of whom I actually like) but finally decided that accepting them was disingenuous because I'll never check the site. I have an Emerging Runner Fan page that (ironically) I can no longer access. I wonder what will happen with that. Thanks to everyone who fanned it. Sorry to disappoint!

The reason I'm grumpy about technology is that it often doesn't work like it should. I'm not talking about technology that we depend upon daily like elevators and traffic lights, I'm talking about running technologies. Especially those that run on my iPhone. I love my iPhone. It's much more fun than my Blackberry that I gave up with some real misgivings. But when compared to the Blackberry as a business tool it's not very fun at all. Okay, I'll accept that as long as it still does the job. It's annoying to switch from Verizon to AT&T, I liken it to taking a step back in time to the mid 1990's when getting a usable signal on your phone was an unexpected surprise. I've put some GPS apps on the iPhone to help track my running metrics and so far I am not impressed. MotionX GPS, that I paid for ($2.99), has great features (lots of data elements captured: photo utility, interactive maps, iPod integration, etc.) but I'm at about 50% in terms of successful outcome when using it. The other apps I've tried, iMapMyRun and RunKeeper Free, have less capabilities (they're both free) but clever enough. I just bought AllSportsGPS (the company gave me a promo code for a comp version but I managed to screw that up (technology!). I'll see how it works. For $10 I'm expecting a lot.

The performance of these GPS utilities is often undermined by the inherent inaccuracy of public GPS. Despite its potential for getting to an inch of your location it misses greatly and often. If you have to remap on Google Earth every time you use these apps what's the point? I'll try the AllSport app on Friday and see how it performs. So many other running technologies have disappointed. AG tried to use the Qstarz on a 6 mile run recently and it failed to capture any data. What's annoying about that is there's no way to tell with that unit if it's working or not. The original running technology that I used, the Nike+ Sportband, failed so often that I needed to replace it three times before I returned it and bought my Garmin 50.

In truth the Garmin 50 has been a great technology and I won't disparage it although it does consume batteries and each time they are replaced calibration gets out of whack. Running technologies don't all run on batteries either and I'll give due credit to Nike, Adidas and other clothing makers who have perfected the art of sweat wicking technology. But for today I'm just a bit grumpy.

At the edge of 9:00

9:00 per mile has always been a psychological barrier for me. I've broken it many times and even broken 8:00 on a 1.5 mile run but in terms of regular running 9:00 is probably my mode pace. This past weekend, with the hilly trails at Stillwood and the relatively long distance on the Belmont Lake Park trail, I was fine with pace times that edged around 10:00 per mile. But on the street my expectations change and I really want to see an '8' before the colon on my Garmin when I finish a run. I had no real expectations for this morning's run. I wanted to cover about 2.5 miles and with yesterday as a rest day I thought I'd have a chance at a decent pace. I was delighted to see my iPhone acquire a PS signal with MotionX fairly quickly and I took off knowing the belt-and-suspenders combination of my Garmin 50 and the MotionX GPS app would capture my metrics fairly well.

The run was nice but unremarkable. I took advantage of the early morning, barely awake mode and floated through the course thinking about many things. I checked my Garmin for time elapsed, saw 6:55 and again thought I had run further than that. I have become somewhat impatient on these early runs. I noticed that the MotionX interface was continuing to show it had a signal and I was glad of that since I sort of lost track of exactly which streets I'd run. I knew the mapping file would tell me all that later. I turned east to finish the last loop and reached home having run 2.63 miles in 23:40 for an overall pace of 00:8:59:92, 8/100ths short of 9 minutes. I accidently switched to a different screen on the iPhone when I tried to hit the stop button (the touch screen is vey sensitive) but I saw the elapsed time as I did that. Later I mapped the run on Google Earth and saw that I'd covered .15 miles more than the GPS reported due to its margin of error.

I'll admit that knowing I broke 9:00 this morning made me happy. I'm thinking about pace times for the Dirty Sock 10K and I'm hoping to maintain a 9:30 pace or better. But you never know with races, how great would it be to have an 8-something time on that? If that's the case I'm throwing an additional $20 into the Garmin 405 fund.

Sunday fun running

After a fairly challenging trail run on Sunday morning I thought I was finished with running for the day. The skies were gray and growing darker. I considered taking out my bike for a quick ride before the rain came but my daughter asked me if we could go for a run. She just got a new pair of Saucony running shoes and wanted to try them out. Despite the possibilty of rain we decided to head out and see how it went. My son said that he wanted to join us. Once eveyone had put on the proper gear we headed into the neighborhood starting at a comfortable pace. I'm trying to get my kids to understand the idea of conserving energy. Children tend to go out fast and then run out of energy sooner than they expect. We didn't get too far before my son had to stop to adjust his shoe. He had a nasty toe injury some months back and it's still a problem. The podiatrist put him on antibiotics this week to help deal with the swelling from an infection. It soon became clear that my son would not be able to continue so we ran him back home and resumed our course.

When it comes to running my daughter is very goal oriented. She was determined to cover at least .75 miles before taking a breather and we did that without a problem. She wanted to cover some real distance and we took a long loop around the western part of the neighborhood and made our way back after running close to two miles. It is a joy to run with my daughter. She has no problem running and talking and the conversation is fun and funny. She's 11 and I really hope she continues her interest in running. The weather held out for us and we even had enough sun to justify a post-run dip in the pool. I'm hoping my son is back to form soon as well so the three of us can explore the neighborhood together, going further and further each time.

A trail marked "UH OH"

I returned to the trails this morning to continue my training for the 8/23 race. I now know that the Dirty Sock 10K course is fairly flat compared with Stillwell Woods so I figured that the more rugged terrain at Stillwood would be helpful in terms of developing leg strength. I decided to bring my iPhone along and I listened to the Tiesto Club Life podcast (per a suggestion from a commenter on my blog - thanks anonymous!) using the AKG K321 in-ear headphones. They work great and I kept the sound low enough to detect the sound of the many mountain bikers that I encountered during my run. I liked the mix a lot more than the Podrunner podcasts and I took some different routes than ever before. There are so many twists and turns and ups and downs through Stillwell that I believe you could run it 50 times and not cover every trail. At one point I encountered a particularly scary descent that was marked with a sign that said "UH OH" (see above). I took the bait and with my trusty NB 460's I had little trouble with that long sharp decline. The path wound around and took me through a short paved area that led to a trail marked "No Trespassing" so I doubled back and found a different route that led me through some sandy trails that led further to a large construction site.

I turned back and switched the MotionX to compass mode and redirected north. I was hoping that after looking at the KMZ files from the run that I would get a good idea where I traveled but the files didn't work on Google Earth although they do show the course on the iPhone itself. Some of the trails I navigated were so steep that I had to slow to a walk a few times. I was very pleased with myself at one point when I encountered a couple of guys also running the trails who reached a sharp incline and proceeded to walk it while I breezed by running. They may have already covered a lot of distance and had hit the wall but all the same it was better to be the passer than the passed. I ended up running about 4.25 miles and my pace wasn't too impressive but the workout was daunting. After my cool-down I stayed and watched a few minutes of an adult league flag football game that was being played where I'd parked my car. It looked like fun but I'll leave that for the very fit 20-somethings I saw on the field.

After yesterday's run with Dave and today's rigorous run at Stillwell I'm feeling good about the upcoming race. I'm thinking of getting the Garmin 405 beforehand so I'll have a reliable GPS device to help capture the run. Either way I can't wait to hit the trails again.

Great talk, dirty socks

In preparation for the Babylon Dirty Sock 10K race later this summer I ran the course with a friend from the Runner's World Loop community, DaveADK (picture below), who lives close to the location of the race. Dave is an interesting guy with a really interesting background. He's been running about 18 months and knows the Dirty Sock course very well.

Before we started, Dave explained the way the race was organized, where registration is held, the location of the starting line (and finish) and also where to park. Having run a few races I appreciated knowing all that beforehand. We walked about a quarter of a mile into the park which served as a light warm up. Dave thought we should begin the training run at the stating point of the race so we proceeded to that area and took off at a moderate pace. The trails were mostly packed dirt, often wide enough across for three or four runners. There were many people out running, walking and biking, the temperature was comfortable and the tree cover prevented the sun from baking down. We encountered sections of sandy trail, some singletrack paths and a few that were paved. There were elevation changes but nothing too pronounced. I was grateful for that because the 6+ mile distance would have been a far greater challenge for me if it had the roller coaster terrain I encounter at Stillwell Preserve.

The time went by quickly, Dave is good runner and he graciously ceded to my pace that was probably 20-30 seconds/mile slower than he would normally run. He pointed out some important things about the course that will be good to know on race day. My runs with Adventure Girl have prepared me to chat while running and I did well considering the distance. At one point, when running underneath one of the highway trestles, we encountered a flutist and joked that the improvisational jazz background made it seem like we were characters in an independent film. We were about 1/4 mile near the end and Dave said this is the time to pour it on as practice for the race. Unfortunately my groin pull that always surfaces around the 4 or 5 mile mark prevented me from pressing my luck.

When we got to the end, Dave's Garmin 305 showed that we covered a little more 6 miles. My Garmin 50 was way off, perhaps because I recently replaced the battery. I'll calibrate it tomorrow when I run. The big disappointment was with my iPhone and MotionX GPS. Around the 3 mile mark I noticed the application was confused and had lost the signal. I'm not sure what actually happened after that but I ended up accidentally resetting the unit and losing the run history. As much as I'd hoped the iPhone would be a convenient alternative to a Garmin 405 I'm realizing that I still need the GPS watch. So back to the fund - $160 to go.

On my own in the city

For the first time in many weeks I won't be partaking in my Friday afternoon city run. My son and junior emerging runner has joined me in my office for the day and my trusty running partner, Adventure Girl, is preparing for her three week orientation at Yale that starts on Sunday. I'm going to miss our runs and there's much to be said for running with others in terms of performance and distraction from the effort. I've read some recent articles that support the idea that running with groups helps improve pace. Although the bulk of my running is solo I have run enough with others to know that I generally do better with another person helping to set the pace. It takes commitment to run during the workday because we don't have shower facilities and few people are willing to go at lunch and come back to the office soaking with sweat. I had hoped that our division Fun Run would surface some running partners but no one has taken the bait yet.

Tomorrow I'll be running in Belmont Lake State Park as training for the Babylon Dirty Sock 10K that will be help there later in the month. I'll be joined by someone who trains there regularly and knows the course. I'm slightly concerned about the length of the 6.2 mile run because I have averaged closer to 4.5 miles per weekend run over the last few months. According to what I have read, these trails are moderately flat and that, combined with the shade from the trees should help me deal with the effort. I'm looking forward to being back on the trails again. As for city running, even as AG leaves for New Haven I plan to do a run at least once a week. I hope to find someone to join me on the lower loop in Central Park or down the West Side bike trails every once in a while. Adventure Girl will be back for a couple of days every week starting in September and we'll run if she can squeeze it in. It's been a great summer for running and there are still some weeks to go!

Cool running

Unlike the last couple of days, the temperature outside at 4:00 AM this morning was cool and the humidity was minimal. I almost decided to take today as a rest day but I'm planning a long trail run on Saturday and wanted to use Friday for rest instead. I decided to go simple this morning and leave the iPhone behind. My experiences with the GPS apps have been disappointing and while I'll continue to use them I didn't see a need today.

Equipped solely with my Garmin 50, I made my way out to the neighborhood. Over the past few months I've become impatient with my progress while running, feeling like I'd covered some real distance only to see elapsed time of 7:55 on my watch. You'd think it would indicate that I was running a fast pace but you'd be wrong. I think the issue is simply that I'm outgrowing my neighborhood and the familiarity of the route distorts my sense of distance. Or something like that. I returned home wishing I had another 15 minutes to run so I could extend the enjoyment of the experience. I was feeling fine, the air was still cool and there was a nice tang of ocean breeze in the air. Unfortunately I had run out of time and needed to make my way back upstairs to prepare for the work day. This was the first time I'd ever strung together three consecutive 4:00 AM runs during the week and I was pleased to have done that. I can only hope that I do as well on the trails this weekend.

iMapMyRun Mobile is free and worth every penny

The great GPS experiment continues with addition of two running apps on my iPhone: iMapMyRun and RunKeeper Free. Both of these apps are free and have fewer capabilities and features than MotionX GPS that cost $1.99. I plan to download a few more of these apps and later do a comparison on Runner's Tech Review. For now I'll talk about my experience with iMapMyRun yesterday and today.

One difficulty I've encountered with MotionX is GPS signal acquistion. This problem is more pronounced in the city than on suburban Long Island but even there it can take a few minutes to get an accurate read. I was able to get a green indicator very quickly with iMapMyRun but that might be related to threshold. iMapMyRun considered the GPS signal viable at an accuracy of 162 ft. where MotionX prefers to get closer before it glows green. Or in the case of MotionX, blue. I went out this morning and selected "Start recording" on the iMapMyRun interface. It was still white when I was ready to start my run but within ten seconds after I left my driveway it turned green. I liked that it had large numbers that showed distance covered along with average and current pace and I thought, hmm, maybe this will work. The darkness helped me see the display as I ran, unlike during the day when the sun reflects off the plastic armband cover. About a mile into my run I looked at the display and everything said 00:00 despite the fact that I'd hit the start button as I left my house. I fumbled with it as I ran and succeeded in getting it working but I knew I'd only recorded half my run at best.

I ended up running 2.25 miles at a 9:06 pace according to my Garmin and the iPhone recorded just 1.1 mile of that. The route map it created showed a similar margin of error to the MotionX routes, again making it look like I cut lots of corners and ran through homes. A Runner's World Loop blogger told me that the Garmin GPS watches are much more accurate than the iPhone location apps. If that's the case I'm back to considering the Garmin 405 because I suspect Run Keeper will perform in a similar way. I did have a little fun with iMapMyRun last night. I set it up to record a run as I drove home from the train station. I covered a little over 2 miles at a 3:15/mile pace. The amazing thing is that many elite runners would have given me a run for my money despite my 300 HP advantage.

Motion(X) sickness

I promise that I'll eventually stop complaining about the GPS functionality of the iPhone but this morning's experience made me wonder if the whole concept needs a few more years to develop into a viable technology. I got off to a good start today in terms of timing, I was dressed and ready to make it out the door by 4:00 AM. This was important because that extra ten minutes would give me more time to run and I really wanted to work on distance as I train for my August 23rd race. If I'd ignored the iPhone on my way out I would have been much better off since it added to my setup time and - therefore - took away from my run time. That would have been forgiven if the result was even remotely accurate but the GPS app did not come through. More on that later.

Yesterday, instead of doing my usual elliptical workout, I decided to work on my upper body that I've sorely neglected over the last month. I started with 20 minutes of arms-only elliptical and followed with 15 minutes of free weights. I didn't want to overdo it so I stopped there. I worked up quite a sweat in the process, something I'll attribute in equal parts to hard work and oppressive humidity. Today I was anxious to get back out on the road and after having a carb-rich lunch and small but well balanced dinner I woke up feeling ready. As I mentioned above I started a few minutes early and even with the extra work stuffing the iPhone into the armband I was outside stretching by 4:09 AM. I turned on the MotionX application and was disappointed, but not surprised, to see that the GPS wasn't acquired by the time I was ready to leave. I started off anyway and switched on the app knowing it would start tracking eventually.

I got a little confused along my course because so many of the streets look the same, especially in the pitch dark and saw that I was on a different street than I'd expected. I figured that the MotionX map would show me where I went wrong when I reviewed it post-run. I felt great and could have easily gone on well past my time imposed limit. I ended up covering 2.6 miles at a 9:09 pace. This was good considering that I wasn't really thinking about speed as I ran. The MotionX was completely off with the path showing me running through people's homes and across lawns and through back yards. I thought in the early morning there would be far fewer things that would interfere with the signal. While the Garmin (accurately) showed 2.6 miles traveled, the MotionX showed 2.09 miles. It did show me where I veered off onto a different street so at least it keeps a true, if sloppy, record of my course.

Expectations for my 10K trail race

I'm three weeks away from my first 10K and I'm having some anxiety about how well I'll perform. I've run 6.2 miles and longer in recent months but that isn't a regular distance for me. Lately my runs have been shorter owing to weather (hot, sunny, humid), available time and tough trail conditions. My Friday city run was exhausting and not quite five miles. I'll admit that I sabotaged myself by running on an empty stomach and ran out of energy near the end. Perhaps with more nourishment I would have been able to go all the way to South Ferry as originally planned but I'll never know. Saturday was a relatively fast run over 3.8 miles so I understand I traded distance for pace. Yesterday's four mile run in the heat and humidity had similar conditions to Friday's, the difference being I had a carb-rich breakfast an hour before I ran so I couldn't blame a lack of food on my performance.

The heat seems to affect me more than any other factor and the Dirty Sock 10K is due to start at 8:00 AM rain or shine. The combination of a a fairly early morning start, trail conditions that promise to be easier than Stillwell Woods ands the shade provided by the trees may just give me the boost I need to get through this race. In the meantime I'm going to concentrate on distance, perhaps running double my morning distance tomorrow and repeating that later in the week. I'm planning to meet another 10K participant on Saturday morning to run the 10K course. That will give me some familiarity and hopefully some confidence that I can perform credibly on race day.

Who says GPS is more accurate than a foot pod?

My running this weekend has been firmly focused on the tech side. Friday's, Saturday's and today's runs were documented with both my Garmin 50 and with the iPhone using MotionX GPS software. I also used the iPod feature within MotionX to listen to music while I ran. As an experiment I downloaded two Podrunner Podcasts to accompany my runs. These Podcasts, that are available from iTunes for free, are mixed by DJ Steve Boyett to match specific heart rates. On Saturday I chose the 147 BPM Serendipity mix that was highly repetitive House music with a driving beat. At about a mile into my run a female singer began repeating a single sentence that grew old very quickly. Unfortunately that sentence was repeated in various forms for the next ten minutes causing me to want to rip the iPhone off my armband and into the gutter. I didn't want to stop and figure out how to turn off or fast-forward the podcast so I endured it and the mix mercifully switched back to an instrumental after a few more minutes. As aggravating as that experience was, I'll admit that the driving beat contributed to a quicker pace than I would have normally achieved.

The GPS software measured my run at 3.73 miles and the Garmin measured it at 3.8. After observing the course from the exported KMZ file I noticed that the accuracy of the line was far enough off to explain that difference. This morning, after our weekend guests departed, I went out for a run with a goal of covering at least 4 miles. It was due to storm by mid-day so I was anxious to get out and finish quickly. I played the 150 BPM Square One Podrunner mix that was vocal free (which I liked) but a bit soulless and electronic (which I liked less). I'll admit that it did help me focus but I'm thinking about loading some more tuneful music on it to see how that will work. I wanted to broaden my range so I ran west on Jericho Turnpike far enough to enter neighborhood #3 from the north. I had never actually run in this neighborhood so I was excited to experience some new roads. It was growing very hot and humid ahead of the impending storm. I was (and still am) concerned that I haven't done a 5+ mile run in a while and I'll be participating in a 6.2 mile trail race later this month. I had hoped to complete 5 miles today but the humidity had sapped my energy and it was all I could do to make it home. Very soon after my run the storm came through and I snapped a picture (see above) of where I had just run in the scorching heat.

When I finished the run I saw that my Garmin reported 4.07 miles at a pace of 9:18. The MotionX software said I'd covered 3.92 miles at 9:40. I pulled the GPX file onto Google Earth and used the path tool to trace my actual route that almost exactly matched the Garmin with foot pod. The path from the GPS had its margin of error with the GPS vectoring sharply around corners and even on straighter paths. It was easy to see why it under counted the actual distance. I don't know if the Garmin 405 somehow accounts for this and provides a more accurate report. I think the accuracy of GPS is the limiting factor so MotionX is probably as good as it gets. I'll continue using the Garmin 50 because it's easy and superior in terms of accuracy to GPS measurement. However, I'll also use MotionX to document my route so I can view it and share it with others.

City bookend run

Yesterday afternoon AG and I completed our last city run before she heads back to school. The weather predictions were for storms through the afternoon so we switched our plans to run the trails in Van Cortland park in favor of the West Side bike path. Instead of rain the weather turned extremely hot and humid as we made our way west from the office. I wore my iPhone with MotionX GPS to track our route and also used the Garmin 50 for comparison.

Before we started our run we had some honey energy chews, but nothing for lunch. About 15 minutes into the run I began to feel tired which I'm sure related to hunger. It reminded us of how I struggled the first time AG and I ran together. It was on the bridal path in Central Park where the heat, hills and mud made it a rough time. In between these tough ones were a bunch of great runs. That's not to say that yesterdays run wasn't great. We moved along well and ducked into Chelsea Piers where we could run some blocks free of the sun. The run along the water was beautiful and the breeze was welcomed but the heat forced a quick hydration stop after 3.8 miles. We ran another mile before calling it a run. Despite the conditions we averaged 9:13/mile. I'm going to miss these summer city runs.

We have some guests this weekend so I got out early before they were up and ready. I used the iPhone again and the GPS application did much better outside of the city. In the interest of time I kept it under 50 minutes covering 3.8 miles at 8:53. That's another $20 to the Garmin fund but with MotionX I'm re-thinking whether to even make that purchase.

The great experiment

One reason I enjoy running is that the sport allows me to indulge my interest in technology. From my first few months using the Nike+ Sportsband to my switch to the Garmin 50 I have tracked my performance and progress and studied the results. Technology isn't limited to sports watches, I started a site within emergingrunner.com called Runner's Tech Review to provide feedback on every type of fitness technology I use. To be sure, some of this technology is battery powered but much of it isn't. Sports drinks, running shoes and energy bars are all technologies in their own right.

I've just replaced my Blackberry with an iPhone and I'm learning to deal with it. In many ways it's a step down from its replacement but it offers some capabilities to runners that the Blackberry cannot match. For one thing I can finally look at comments posted on my Runner's World Loop blog without being tethered to a PC. I thought I would have better tools for mobile posting using Safari but Blogger doesn't really work right. There may be issues with Flash or Java. I can post simply by sending an email to a special address so I've found a good solution for that. The big exciting technology opportunity is leveraging the GPS capability of the iPhone. I mentioned MotionX yesterday and put it to the test walking a few places in the city. The system had a difficult time acquiring a signal but that could be related to the many tall buildings in mid town NYC. Today I will try a run with the iPhone using MotionX to track my speed, distance, elevation and route. I'm hoping that it works better than the Qstarz Sports Recorder.

To hedge my bets, I'll have my trusty Garmin as backup and it will be interesting to compare results between the two. The only concern I have is the weather. Storms are expected and I don't want to soak the iPhone.

MotionX looks cool but I'm going to miss my Blackberry

I received my iPhone 3GS a couple of days ago and it was DOA. I got a 3G loaner unit in the meantime and installed MotionX, an application that uses the location aware capability of the iPhone to capture data via GPS. I have not been able to use it yet but perhaps at lunch I'll test it out. This app creates a KMZ file like the Qstarz 1300S that can be overlayed on Google Earth to show path, speed and elevation data.

I'll admit to some frustrations with the iPhone. The text input is a few steps down from my Blackberry. There are many things that are simple on the Blackberry (like posting to my blogs) that are going to be difficult with the Apple. I'm actually using my Blackberry to do this post because, despite the iPhone's full browser capability with Safari, the Blogger interface doesn't work.

I know I'll eventually get it sorted out and I'm really excited to have a resource that can use GPS to capture running data and display it in real time (sorry Qstarz). I'll need to get a sleeve holder at City Sports for the iPhone so that I can run with it. Perhaps I'll use MotionX today to track my way and back to the store..

Hot slog

No matter how hot a summer day can get, running conditions at 4:00 AM are usually fairly comfortable. I've experienced mornings when it was downright chilly even though the day's high would reach the mid 80's. Yesterday morning was cool and humid but today was hot and very humid. As I stepped out for my warmup I could feel the moisture in the air and I wondered how this might affect the quality of my run.

I took off and randomly chose a street to follow. I like to choose my path through the neighborhood in real time rather than map it out ahead of time safety purposes. I don't want anyone noticing that I run past here or there every day at 4:15. Despite the oppressive conditions I pushed somewhat at the beginning to help accelerate my transition from anaerobic to aerobic breathing. I've been thinking a lot about cadence lately and wondering if I could increase my running speed by increasing my steps per minute. Soon I started feeling the heat and hoped the run would go by quickly. When I checked the Garmin I saw that I had only been outside for seven minutes. It seemed longer than that and I could tell that the next 2/3rds of the run would be a slog.

I ran with my Brooks this morning and they were fine so this was a good test of their performance compared with the NB 460's that seem to enable my best paces. There was a lot more activity than yesterday including the first time I saw another person, not a runner, but someone coming home very late. There were three or four cars which is also unusual. One was tossing the NY Times onto people's driveways and the other was tossing Newsday. On my short ride to the train station this morning I counted five runners along the way. I wondered how they were dealing with the heat, humidity and sun. No one was smiling. I ended up running about 22 minutes at 9:19, certainly unworthy of a contribution to the Garmin fund. All the same I was happy to have toughed it out on a brutally warm morning. Every bit helps.

Morning Glory

Time to add another $20 to the Garmin fund for todays' early run. I was hoping to beat 9:05 and continue my steady improvement in pace during these morning excursions. I went out fast from the start encouraged by the fact that, right now, I am not suffering any injuries that would mitigate my efforts. I knew I was moving well and I thought about how running with others can help improve speed so I imagined I was trying to keep up with a fast paced crowd. In truth it was just me and lots of rabbits. I decided to run hard for as long as I could and throttle back if I got tired. I knew I could run one mile fairly fast (compared to my average pace) so I was curious to see how far I could go before I started to feel depleted.

It was cool but already humid and those conditions worked for me. I felt like I had a fair amount of glycogen on reserve as I passed the 12 minute mark. I didn't look at my pace or distance and I was very curious to know if I was really doing well or if I was experiencing a 4:00 AM delusion. I returned home after covering 2.5 miles in about 22 minutes and was very pleased to see I'd averaged a pace of 8:40/mile.

I think today's $20 was well earned but lately I'm wondering whether I want the 405 or if my new 3GS iPhone will provide adequate utility for GPS and elevation mapping. But that's a subject for another post!

The Emerging Runner, Jr.

I ended up covering over 12 miles this weekend after all with a pre-dinner run on Sunday with my daughter. She really wants to run and lately, when we've been out for walks, she's taken off sprinting a few blocks ahead, always raring to go further and faster. She's a great athlete and I'd love it if she took an interest in distance running.

Our plan was to go up, over and back along some adjacent streets and cover a distance that I knew to be .65 miles. I thought she'd tire half way around but she moved right along, happily talking while maintaining a credible pace. We finished the .65 mile loop and she asked to stop for a minute before resuming through the middle school grounds and up a longer road before heading back home. When we finished I noted that we'd covered 1.2 miles. We were both hot and wet, some of it due to running past homes that were watering their lawns near the sidewalk. I wore a cotton jersey and was amazed how soaked I'd become on such a short run. The humidity was brutal and I once again appreciated the benefits of wicking technical jerseys.

I'm hoping to run with my son next weekend and to continue running on weekends with my daughter. It was pure joy to see her by my side, knowing that in a few years I may not even be able to keep up with her. In the meantime I'm still the fastest runner on my block!

Short and sweet

I had hoped that today's run would be the longest of the weekend and I was aiming to cover 5 miles. I was happy with my weekend runs with AG at Stillwell and around the neighborhood and looked to cap things off with a slightly longer Sunday run. The weather was not looking good and there was thunder but no rain. I was anxious to get out to run before the storm and I hit the street anticipating a fast return at the first sign of lightning. I pushed the pace and went west on Jericho Turnpike so I could make a loop around the neighborhood and cut in towards home if necessary. I decided to run with my NB 460's today to compare them to the Helly Hansen Trail Lizards and I was once again impressed with the versatility of the New Balance shoes.  About ten minutes into the run the sun came out along with the heat and humidity. It quickly became clear that I wouldn't be covering five miles under those conditions so I made my way back having run a total of 3.7 miles at 8:46/mile.

I finished the three day period with 11 miles, a little short of what I'd done on recent weekends. All the same I felt that Friday's trail run and today's brisk pace were worthy of contribution to the Garmin fund. I'm up to $100, a third of the way there. My next goal is to break 9:05 on a 4:00 AM run next week. I may help myself out by running again with the New Balance 460's. They may be made for trails but they do darn well on the road.

Our natural resource

Nature was the theme of the day on Friday as the whole family headed out to the trails at Stillwell for a forestry tour conducted by none other than Adventure Girl herself. My wife and kids often visit the nearby trails for hikes but they wanted to know more about the forest, plants and trees. It was a different way of viewing Stillwell which I have previously seen only while bounding over trails, roots, puddles and rocks. We had a great time and learned a lot along the way.

After the tour my family returned home to look up the samples they collected. AG and I remained at the Preserve to do some serious trail running. I'm planning to run the Dirty Sock 10K in August so I'm trying to log some trail time. AG may join me in the race although she'll be back at grad school by then so it may be hard for her to get there. We brought along the Qstarz 1300S Sports Recorder so we could record our run and later view the area we covered on a map. Stillwell has lots of trails, some with fairly challenging sections and the layout of the trails can be confusing when you're viewing them from the ground rather than from Google Earth. I had my compass and that helped a lot. AG has a much better sense of place and direction and was able to identify some trails that we'd previously covered. The last time I ran that course I'd suspected that I was circling back over old ground a few times and now I'm sure I had. We wore our Helly Hansen Trail Lizards for a true field test and liked the result. The full report is being written for Runner's Tech Review but, in short, we felt they were capable trail shoes for shorter length runs like the 4 miles we covered yesterday.

AG stayed with us until this morning and we did a 5K+ neighborhood run cutting into neighborhood #2 along the way. Today's run was at a fairly easy pace and served as a good recovery from the rigor of Stillwell. AG wore her Helly's and pronounced them less than ideal for the street. That was the conclusion I'd also reached the first time I tried them on pavement. Before AG left us for more weekend adventures she engaged in some competitive Wii play with my son and daughter. I don't remember who won but any of them can beat me. It was a great, educational and fun filled running weekend. The best part is that there's much more to come!

Into the woods

I'm beginning to think about my 10K trail race in August. The course looks interesting, it starts at the southern end of a park and the runners move north to the top, double back along the same route and return. Along the way there's a lake to get around. I really love trail running and I enjoy racing but I'm wondering how well the two will mix. The races I've run have all been road runs with even terrain and enough room for everyone to find their own lane. Trail running, I've discovered, often involves narrow paths with obstacles to avoid. What is the protocol for this? How do faster runners get by slower runners when the trail is less than a foot wide? Who has the right of way and what happens in the out and back section when traffic doubles? I don't know why I'm worrying about this now but it comes from what I've learned in the races I have run:

1. Know the course ahead of time. Even if you can't run it beforehand, familiarize yourself with the layout using Gmaps. This provides context for how far is left to go.

2. Use tools like Google Earth to detect marked elevation changes. My April race provided a few unwanted surprises that worked against my race strategy. My end of race sprint reserve was eaten up by a final steep hill 1/4 mile from the finish.

3. Despite the adrenalin rush at the beginning that prompts you to go out fast, be thoughtful about energy conservation for the first couple of miles. A speedy start can work for you on a 5K but a 10K, especially on variable surfaces, will require every ounce of reserve.

Despite my questions about the trail race experience I am very excited to participate in this event. Later today AG will be taking me, my wife and the kids on a nature walk in Stillwell Woods and we'll follow that with a trail run. We'll be putting the Helly Hansens to the test for that and report back on how they perform on Stillwell's more challenging trails.

The one after 9:09?

You might recognize the subject of this post as an old Beatle's song. For me it's a question of how I'll do the next time I go out for a run at 4:00 AM compared to the last two days. This early morning outdoor running has been a great enhancement to my overall workout program. I cannot remember the last time I got up at 4:00 knowing that I would need to endure the tedious and percussively loud whine of the treadmill. I appreciate the machine and respect that after more than a decade it still does the job. I built my running fitness with this treadmill over many months. However, respect and affection can be very different things.

Moving from a seven-day-a-week (five on the treadmill) routine to five days running outdoors, one day of elliptical and one rest day schedule has been a big improvement. I've never been much of an outdoors person (ask my wife) but running has changed that. Give me the road and the trails (or, worst case, the track) and I'm happy. I get up excited at 4:00 AM knowing cool conditions and quiet streets await me. The only downside has been that my pace seems to suffer early in the morning, especially compared with my past treadmill experience. Where I was running 8:50 miles on the treadmill I was running 9:30 or slower outdoors. I guess it has to do with the machine providing more help than I thought.

This morning I went out fast and tried to maintain a fluid pace. I knew from experience that feeling like I was moving along quickly can be deceiving at that hour. I ended up covering almost the same distance as yesterday, 2.4 miles, but my pace had improved to 9:09. This is definitely the direction I want and I'm wondering if I can maintain this progress going forward. In the meantime it's another $20 into the Garmin fund for breaking 9:10 before the birds are up.

Banking on a Garmin 405

I've decided to target $300 for my Garmin 405 fund. As I'd mentioned previously, I'm going to contribute $20 to the fund every time I achieve a goal or perform a notable run. The goals are quantifiable but the other criteria are objective so I'll serve as both the banker and the judge. As long as I think I've earned the contribution I'll award the cash. Last Friday's 4.7 mile Central Park run was on the bubble because I didn't break 9:00/mile. On the other hand it was almost five miles, somewhat hilly with 90+ percent humidity and temperatures in the high 80's. So 9:04 overall for that distance earns the first $20. Sunday was 3.7 miles under 9:00/mi so that gets the prize as well. $40 banked.

This morning I was questioning whether to attempt my early morning run. The rain was coming down hard moments before I dressed to run. With the 4:00 AM darkness, despite my headlamp, I had concerns about visibility. I opened the garage and saw that the rain was very light, barely there in fact, so I took off hoping for the best. It really turned out to be the best, the cool breeze and the light moisture in the air felt great. It wasn't too dark and I felt limited only by the amount of time I had to run.

I ended up covering 2.4 miles at 9:16/mile. It was the fastest I've done at 4:00 AM but the judge is not awarding any prize money for that. Considering that it's tougher to go fast minutes after awakening from a sound sleep I'll concede to a goal of 9:10 for an early morning pace. Once I reach that I'll bank the money and revise the goal closer to 9:00/mile.

Erase the Bethpage 5K, bring on the Dirty Socks 10K

Last night I went online to see if registration had opened up for the Bethpage 5K. This race, held at Bethpage State Park on 7/27, is one of a series of summer races held at state parks on Long Island. I know that participation in this series is high and that people who signed up for the entire series are given priority. The race planners expect so many runners that they've asked that people carpool to the event to minimize the amount of cars and traffic. They also said that single race registration for Bethpage would only open up the week before the race. When I got on the website to get information it said "No single race registration." So, unless that was a placeholder that will be taken down today it looks like I may be out of luck for next Monday. If I am unable to participate in the 5K it will be the first month since March where I won't be racing. I suppose I could count last week's Fun Run as my July event.

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While I would love to do this 5K it would have required me to rush home early from the office and battle the crowds to make the 7:00 PM start. I think I have found a better challenge: the Babylon Dirty Socks 10K on August 23rd. This event was suggested by one of my co-bloggers on the Runner's World Loop and it looks very interesting. Most of the course is on trails and the topography is fairly flat so it could be a fast race. I have not yet competed in a 10K event so it's an opportunity to do that distance plus a trail race, both for the first time.

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This also gives me about a month to prepare and train. What better excuse for me to hit the trails next weekend?

In praise of the NB 505

At the time that I resumed running almost a year ago I only owned a single pair of athletic shoes. Those shoes were New Balance 505's; cushioned cross training/walking shoes that I'd had for years. I started my return to running by walking, covering two or three miles on the treadmill or in the neighborhood a few times a week. Up until then the 505's had served me well as the shoes I wore every weekend for almost any activity except for formal occasions.

Even with four of five years of use they still looked brand new and felt great whenever I wore them. They were perfect walking shoes and despite my assessment that I've put more than 600 miles onto these shoes they still serve me well since I don't use my many pairs of running shoes for anything but running. If my wife says we're going to Target or to the market I still reach for my 505's. 

It wasn't until I began adding some runs within my walks last August that I realized that the cushioning and stiffness of the NB's worked against me. I soon bought my first pair of running shoes (Nike Turbulence 13's) and moved to full time running. The rest, as they say, is history. Funny that when I've tried on NB street running shoes a few times since then I haven't loved the fit. However, my NB 460's are still a great choice for the trails.

I had hoped to hit the trails at least once this weekend but since my weekend schedule was tight I needed to stick close to home both days. Yesterday I covered 3.5 easy miles and this morning I went out early and was ready to move a little faster. It was about 65 degrees with moderate humidity and light winds so I worked a little on my speed and looked for routes with hills or long inclines.

After spending some time within the neighborhood I moved over to the western edge road and then went east to attack the lengthy hill on Jericho Turnpike before I re-entered the neighborhood. I ended up covering 3.7 miles at an 8:54 pace. I thought that was great considering the tougher than normal course. A brisk and challenging Friday run in Central Park and a rigorous run on Sunday book-ended three miles of CFMs on Saturday.  I covered a little less than 12 miles on those three days, a bit shorter than what I've been doing over that span but I'm definitely running harder these days.